Women to surround Trump and make 'feminist statement' during State of the Union address

When Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address next week, he will find himself surrounded by powerful women.

The president will be looking out at a record number of female House members on Tuesday, with many of the new Democrat lawmakers expected to wear white as a feminist statement of solidarity with women across the US.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will sit just over his shoulder on the dais, while two female immigrants who have spoken out about Mr Trump’s hiring practices will be among the guests sitting in the gallery above his head.

Stacey Abrams will become the first black woman to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to his speech afterward.

“I hope she does a good job. I respect her,” Mr Trump said of Ms Abrams, who narrowly lost the race for Georgia governor to the president’s ally, Brian Kemp.

The president has pledged to deliver a speech rooted in a theme of “unity”, but also renewed his demand for a border wall as a condition of keeping the government open past 15 February.

Mr Trump will give his address at a sensitive time in talks to prevent agencies from closing once again. Members of Congress have invited federal workers who went without pay for 35 days during the record government shutdown.

The new female lawmakers and array of special guests will offer the broadcasters’ cameras a range of visual counterpoints to his remarks, given Mr Trump’s history of inflammatory statements about women, immigrants and others.

One of the guests invited to sit in the gallery is Victorina Morales, who worked for one of Mr Trump’s golf clubs in New Jersey for several years even though she was born in Guatemala and was lived in the US illegally.

Ms Morales, a guest of New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, said in an interview that she feels respectful toward the president. But she does have a message for him after years of hearing Mr Trump describe immigrants as a scourge that takes jobs from Americans.

“Forget about the wall, stop separating families and focus on immigration reform,” she said.

Another woman who cleaned the president’s clothes and made his bed at his Bedminster golf club is also attending the address. Sandra Diaz, 46, a native of Costa Rica who worked there between 2010 to 2013 will be attending as a guest of Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, according to the lawyer for both women, Anibal Romero.

Ms Diaz said last month she was hired without legal papers and supervisors at the club knew it. She is now a legal permanent US resident. Ms Diaz said she decided to speak out because she is angry about the president describing immigrants as violent.

Ms Abrams speaks both before and after the president on Tuesday. The Georgia Democrat, heavily courted by Democrats to run for a Senate seat in 2020, lost her bid to be the nation’s first African-American woman governor after a protracted fight.

On Sunday, the 45-year-old will take her push for voting rights to the airwaves in her home state during the Super Bowl. Her political group Fair Fight has bought airtime on Georgia affiliates broadcasting the game so the Democrat can push for election law changes.

Ms Abrams said she will speak about inclusion “at a moment when our nation needs to hear from leaders who can unite for a common purpose”.

Additional reporting by Associated Press